Talk:James Cook

Should this article mention the 1928 Hawaiian half-dollar

Previously the article read 'and dozens of coins have been issued with Cook's image', recently ', including the 1928 Hawaii Sesquicentennial half dollar,' was added to this.

Most of the commemoration section is a summary with a link to the list, as listing ever commemoration would be undue. I'm unsure if this specific coin is worthy of mention over other commemorations. Traumnovelle (talk) 20:53, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

Per WP:SUMMARY STYLE, this article should contain a summary of the important sub-articles, including the List of commemorations of Captain James Cook sub-article. I'm sure most readers would want a broad sampling from that article: a few places, a couple of statues, maybe a coin, stamp, and banknote. Readers probably benefit from a wide breadth in the choice of objects/places ... so every object included here doesnt itself have to be super notable ... rather, the goal is to give readers (of this article) a notion of how is fame spread across all sorts of objects and places. So, any single coin from that list may be suitable. Note that Cook is featured on several banknotes, several coins, and several stamps around the globe, but the List of commemorations of Captain James Cook sub-article is missing most of them. Noleander (talk) 21:36, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

I don't see why this particular coin should be singled out for mention. If we had to pick one, I would go for the 1970 Australian commemorative 50 cent coin. But it's probably better not to specify any one of the many. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 23:00, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

Further to my reply, this section of the article isn't very well sourced. There must be a scholarly source somewhere listing the Cook coins and medals that have been issued. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 23:13, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

Scholarly sources are not required by WP:RS for minor cultural facts such as celebrations, events, stamps and so on. WP:RS says that the quality of the source depends on the nature of the material. Newspaper articles and the like are commonly used for facts related to society/culture/art/commemorations. Noleander (talk) 00:26, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Point taken. I was thinking more of using it to give more detail on the stamps and coins. For example, I am pretty sure that the first commemorative coin was struck soon after Cook's death. But it might well be that the Hawaiian half dollar is the first commemorative coin to go into general circulation. As Randy Kryn suggests below, a montage might be a good idea for the article on List of commemorations of Captain James Cook. I'm not sure we can squeeze it into this article though. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 01:00, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

How about putting up a gallery of a few of the coins and stamps? In any case, keeping the 1928 commemorative, even if additional mentions are made, seems better than not having it. Randy Kryn (talk) 00:19, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

That's a possibility, but there's already a sizeable image illustrating this section and I think the existing image links better to the text and the controversy issue. Also see my comment above. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 01:03, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Cook's encounter with Indigenous Tasmanians

I have made some changes to this new content. We should specify that it was at Bruny island that Cook's expedition landed. Also Sides does not say that it was the first encounter between the British and Aboriginal Tasmanians. Sides incorrectly refers to "the English" throughout his book. What he says is: "This was probably the first time these particular people had encountered Europeans...". Also, "And so, with a crack of a firearm, the historic first encounter between two races of human beings from islands on opposite sides of the globe had abruptly ended." This implies that he is talking about a first encounter between people from Britain and Bruny Island, but at no stage does he say that it was the first encounter between the British and Aboriginal Tasmanians (although it probably was). Personally, I would not use Sides at all because he is a journalist and popular historian and his book -- entertaining as it is --- is full of inaccuracies and problematic language. (Consistently calling the British "the English" and referring to peoples as "races" gets on my nerves.) I would prefer to use Thomas only, which is scholarly and accurate, and supports my revised wording. Furthermore, even if we find a reliable source that states explicitly that this was the first British encounter with Aboriginal Tasmanians, I'm not sure why this is important enough to mention. It seems parochial to me and ignores the earlier French encounter during Du Fresne's expedition. Happy to discuss Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 00:26, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks! I agree that, especially since this is a featured article and there are tons of sources available, we should stick to the best sources, and Sides likely doesn't belong to them. Gawaon (talk) 02:58, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

Proposed NZ ferry named after Cook

Hello all

I have moved this content to the List of commemorations of Captain James Cook. I don't think it belongs in this article because this is only a proposal and might not be realised. Once the ferries are named and operational and the names are accepted, it might be worth mentioning, but there are already plenty of more significant memorials that are not. The title of the article with its "poke in the eye for wokesters" also seems calculated to ignite a tiresome culture war and I don't think we should track ongoing battles of this kind in this article. I would prefer to leave it for now and see what happens.

Happy to discuss Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 00:40, 24 July 2026 (UTC)